Science Bonus!

Check out our first extra credit barometer!  Way to go Alex!  It looks great!

Our Week In Review

The calendar says it is fall, but the weather says something different.  It was a chilly week!  

We even had some "student" teachers!

With another full week of school, we were able to get a lot accomplished!  We had another math assessment (everyone did GREAT!) and we began our next unit about finding patterns, both visually and by finding a rule.  This unit seems to be a favorite of fourth graders.

We had our Map Skills assessment yesterday. Once again the children did great!  In class we discussed different ways to study, and even created a quizlet using the vocabulary.  This is a new concept, and will take practice.  

We have been learning about Weather Maps and Instruments, and have our first science quiz on Wednesday. 

Many students' "best part of their day" is reading.  This is wonderful! Many children have signed up to give book talks and share books and series they love. We have all enjoyed reading about Mr. Popper and his unusual pet!  We will wrap up this book in the coming weeks, and will have a book celebration!  Your child will receive a notice about this next week.

We have been working on writing list poems during Poetry Workshop. This should be finished by the end of next week, and are really fun to read!  Stay tuned to our blog, where we will highlight some of our poetry in the coming weeks.  We have enjoyed "showing not telling" in our narratives, and have helped one another with this difficult skill.

We spent some time this week thinking about Kennedy School and what we might want to change about our school. We had some time to share our ideas, and will continue to review these.  We even had a special visitor to our class during our morning meeting!  Mrs. McNeil was able to hear some of our ideas.

As usual, we wrapped up our Friday with an end of the week meeting!  We all enjoyed our week!  Congratulations to our friend who earned a "WOW" note!  Excellent work!

Remember Halloween is Monday!  We will have a special snack with our "Party in a Bag". 

Happy Diwali to those families celebrating on Sunday!  

T-Shirt of the Day

Words to live by!

T-Shirt of the Day

No it doesn't!!!

Our Week In Review

We had an exciting week in Room 24!

We began our week with our Fourth Grade Community meeting, where the fourth graders received a surprise package!  It was filled with a penguin, a penguin puzzle, and our new Interactive Read Aloud, Mr. Popper's Penguins, by Florence and Richard Atwater.  What a fun way to introduce our book!  We began reading this week, and the children are enjoying reading about Mr. Popper and Captain Cook!  During this read aloud, we will be working on the following:

• to make predictions to help understanding
• to understand characters through thinking about their character traits, and to show evidence to support this
• to ask "talkworthy" questions

We also continue to celebrate the books we love through giving book talks daily. Congratulations to all who have given a book talk, or signed up to give one.  We have students signed up for book talks through the middle of November!  Way to go!

During writing, we have been focusing on our narratives. Students have been working hard to narrow their stories down to "small moments". 

We have continued to learn about multiplication in math.  We will be reviewing this concept on Monday, in preparation for our assessment on Tuesday.  Your child received a study guide last week, and can review the lessons in this unit using the Pearson Realize website.

During Social Studies, we have finished learning about Maps and Globes.  We will practice using latitude and longitude early next week, and our first SS assessment will be on Thursday. Students received a study guide, and have started to make a set of "virtual" flash cards using Quizlet.  Students were encouraged to bring home their Maps and Globes folder, and were allowed to sign out a text for studying purposes.  Everything needed to prepare for the tests can be found on the study guide.   Studying a little every night will make the test preparation feel less overwhelming.  Please feel free to check in with Mrs. Merten if you have any questions.

This week, we were treated to a presentation about the Natives of the Northeast, and about archaeology.  Students participated in an "archaeological dig" right at JFK.  Mrs. Silvia, of the Haffenreffer Museum at Brown University, brought real artifacts, and explained to the students how archaeologists find artifacts and estimate their age.  We look forward to learning more from this program throughout the year.  Thank you to the JFK PCC for funding this awesome experience!

We were also lucky enough to have a visit from author Nick Bruel, author of the Bad Kitty Series.  Mr. Bruel wrote a story with the 3rd, 4th and 5th grader about a "Happy Hamster" who lived in a golden cage.  Your child can fill in the details of this awesome event. Mr. Bruel also signed books for our students, and even did a quick lesson on how to draw a cat face, and change the emotion of the cat with just a few lines.  Thank you to Mrs. Williams for organizing this, and to An Unlikely Story Bookstore in Plainville, who presented this opportunity to us!

During our morning meetings over the last few weeks, we have been talking about compliments and how to give them genuinely.  This week, students chose a "specialist" teacher to write a note to- sharing with them why that teacher's class is so important to them. The letters were heartfelt and enjoyed by all who received them!

Congratulations to this week's "Wow" note recipient!

Looking Ahead:

• We have our next math assessment (topic 1) on Tuesday, 10/25.
• We have our first social studies assessment Maps/Globes Assessment on Thursday, 10/27.
• We will continue reading Mr. Popper's Penguins and working on our Narratives
• Parent /Teacher Conferences are scheduled for 11/28-12/2.  If you haven't signed up for a conference, please use our sign up here.